which is hosting the Hub City Limited MER convention this fall. The Penn Western will be one of the layouts open for the Layout Tours at HUB City.

Transcription

1 The Local Volume 54 September-October 1999 Number 5 Layout Article An Introduction to the Penn Western by Roy Hoffman The Penn Western(PW) is a 29' x 45' basement layout located near Shippensburg, PA. After many years in New Jersey, it was moved to i s present location in The PW has 15 locomotives, 150 cars, 44 switches and mostly hand-laid trackwork. One reason to mention all this is that many may be surprised to hear that the Penn Western is in S-scale. The PW is a finescale layout as opposed to American Flyer and uses code 100 rail throughout. Quite a bit of the old New Jersey layout was preserved and provided for a quick startup at the new location. The PW is 100% sceniced and is in the process of having a Digitraxbased Digital Command Control (DCC) system installed. The former layout was part of the NMRA Valley Forge Convention Layout Tour in Many pleasurable years were spent as part of the New Jersey Division but membership has since shifted to the South Mountain Division which is hosting the Hub City Limited MER convention this fall. The Penn Western will be one of the layouts open for the Layout Tours at HUB City. The original Penn Western was housed in a 1 1/2 car garage. The new layout was to occupy an area about 3 to 4 times larger. Being Blue Mountain / Reading Division able to design a new layout led to some interesting problems. Most large layouts are designed to be operated by several people. Operating sessions at these layouts provide a lot of fun and fellowship. But what if you have a fairly large layout and you are usually the only one around to Continued on page 3 $200 UP FOR GRABS The deadline for the MER Logo Contest has been extended until October 20, Review the details in the July-August LOCAL. If you have lost your last issue, send an SSAE to the secretary or me at ericdlw@aol.com. Eric Dervinis, Secretary

2 MER LOCAL Official Publication of the Mid-Eastern Region, NMRA A Tax-Exempt Organization The MER LOCAL is published six times a year. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of MER elected officials. Commercial suppliers, supplies and materials addressed in the LOCAL in no way constitute an endorsement by the MER. Copyright material that appears in the LOCAL is used for educational and historical benefit only, and does not constitute infringement of the copyright holder. Stan Knotts, Editor Falling Spring Court Laytonsville, MD C. William Gruber, President 79 Quaker Road Mickleton, NJ Norman Garner, Vice President 3408 Wilshire Rd. Portsmouth, VA Eric Dervinis, Secretary 632 Bob White Road Wayne, PA Ron Schmidt, Treasurer 7110 Riverdale Road Lanham, MD Contributing Editors Roger L. Cason 1125 Grinnell Road Wilmington, DE (302) John Teichmoeller Mt. Albert Road Ellicott City, MD Ron Baile 24 Hampton Road Westmont, NJ (609) LOCAL Advertising Manager Dick Foley 2021 Wallace Street Philadelphia, PA (215) The MER LOCAL welcomes articles, photographs and model railroad related material as contributions to members' mutual enjoyment of the hobby. Materials should have a wide appeal. Editors will exercise all due care of submissions, but contributors should not send originals without having back-up copies of both articles and photographs. Editors, by definition, reserve the right and have the responsibility to make corrections, deletions and changes to accommodate space. DUES: $8 per year; $16-2 years LIFE MEMBERSHIP Life Membership in the MER is ONLY available to NMRA Life Members. For quotation, apply to the Business Manager with your date of birth. Send all dues and membership inquiries to: Nelson D. Garber, Business Manager Mid-Eastern Region, NMRA Bellevue Street Silver Spring, MD Editor s Column A visit to Northlands by Stan Knotts The fall MER Hub City convention in Hagerstown will be coming up soon as you read this issue. I hope to see many of you there. I will be looking for layout articles from some of the less known MER members layouts so please let me know if your layout, or your friend s, is a candidate for a future article. When not occupied working on the Local or working to earn a living I try to get a little work in on my layout, which seems to progress at a snail s pace. While on vacation last week I visited the Northlandz exhibit in Flemington, NJ. After seeing that, a snail seems far too fast for comparison to the speed of my layout progress. While some model railroad purists may turn up their nose at Northlandz as not being a real model railroad, it is without a doubt BIG! And the trains run without derailment, at least I didn t see any. Bruce Williams, the creator of Northlandz built his huge, multi - multi level layout in 4 1/2 years. It has more and bigger bridges than any layout I ever saw. Williams has used a lot of humor throughout the layout and some of the most fanciful structures you can imagine, as well as some very well done structures that would be appreciated on any layout. As if the layout were not big enough, it uses lots of mirrors to expand the views, including a number of two-way mirrors used to prevent the viewers from seeing their own reflections. The layout is capable of running 100 trains at a time. The control room has an impressive array of controllers and was unmanned when I passed by. The center of the building has a theater with a massive 2,000 pipe theater pipe organ. It was pleasant to pause in the tour to listen to the organ music and watch the organist manipulate the many keyboards and foot pedals. It is definitely a walk and chew gum requirement to play that. It took me about two hours to go through the exhibit and I was passing some of the other viewers, so plan to spend some time if you visit. HUB CITY adds a new Extra Fare Clinic : Hands-on Styrene Construction It s one thing to built kits, but why not experience scratch building in Styrene? If that sounds interesting, then this NEW EXTRA FARE CLINIC is for you. Build a simple wayside building in styrene from supplied raw materials and plans. See how easy it is to work with this material by getting your hands on the raw material and actually doing it. That s what this clinic is all about. See page 9 for Hub City Registration Form 2 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 1999 THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA

3 The Penn Western Continued from page 1 operate it? That aspect of design presented the biggest problem. This is what came out of it. The Penn Western models what used to be the Philadelphia Region of the old Pennsylvania Railroad. This includes Southern New Jersey, Philadelphia and its suburbs, Reading, N. E. Pennsylvania anthracite region, and Harrisburg. It covers from the 1960 s to the present era and interchanges with Conrail at Harrisburg, PA and Collingswood, NJ. I wanted to operate it traffic-wise in a somewhat prototypical manner. I have drawn inspiration through the years from my second favorite Harrisburg, PA - Whit Towers Station model railroad, the Virginian and Ohio. W. Allen McClelland pioneered the concept of a complete transportation system that theoretically went beyond the walls of the basement. Now all I had to do was carry this concept out for one-person operation. To begin with, I effectively divided the railroad into seven operating divisions a la Conrail. The six in Pennsylvania are: Philadelphia, Ambler, Lansdale, Reading/Blue Mt., Anthracite, and Harrisburg, and last but not least, New Jersey. Each division has different customers with different shipping/receiving needs. For instance a sawmill in the Lansdale division has finished lumber for the Peter Lumber Co. in Collingswood, NJ. How do we handle this as a railroad performing a service? My goal is to run the railroad using scheduling, waybills, traffic lists, etc. I worked in Conrail s Information Systems and got a decent feel for the business end of running a railroad. Eventually my goal is to computerize everything including the DCC. Getting back to the one-person approach, the PW is designed to run in a modular manner. There is a main line loop connecting Continued on next page THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER

4 ThePennWestern Continued from page 3 Philadelphia with points west and north eventually reaching Harrisburg, where there is an interchange with Conrail.There is also a main line loop connecting Philadelphia with its northern suburbs. A separate commuter line runs from Philadelphia s 30th Street Station to Lansdale, PA much like SEPTA does in the real world. New Jersey fills up a wall and actually exists by itself as a 2' X 16' switching layout. I have car float docks on both sides to ship the cars back and forth over the Delaware River. Camden and Collingswood are represented there. Finally there is a point-to- point portion in SN3 to depict East Broad Top. EBT equipment is just beginning to be made available in SN3. Colorado Narrow Gauge has enjoyed a large following in SN3 and is actually considered a major scale along with HON3 and ON3. EBT has some catching up to do, but it will be fun adding stuff when it becomes available. I did manage to scratch build the Orbisonia Station, though. This brings up a misconception about S-scale that has existed from the 60 s and 70 s when S almost died out. Most modelers in the other scales think that in order to have an S-scale layout, you have to scratch build everything. I scratch build as a choice, not a necessity. There is a large and constantly growing selection of ready-to-run and kits coming out and one can easily maintain an S-scale layout without having to build anything from scratch any more. There are 75 structures on the PW. Of that number, 31 are scratch built, 23 are S-gauge kits and 21 are kitbashes of HO kits. Some HO kits like DPM s are nicely suited for use in S which is 136% the size of HO. Sometimes, doorways have to be raised a little but a lot of HO is useful in S. Philadelphia is the hub for the railroad. There is a large dock area along the Delaware River which includes an intermodal loading operation. The intermodal Continued on page 6 Philadelphia - 30th Street Station Area 4 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 1999 THE LOCAL L/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA

5 MADE IN THE MER COMPILED BY ROGER L. CASON WILSON HARRELL HOBBY LOADS Scene 1: It s the 1930 s, and one of young Wilson Harrell s favorite activities is crawling through the fence and watching Norfolk & Western coal operations at Lamberts Point, Norfolk, VA. When the railroad detective isn t looking, that is! Now let s fast forward through many years of hard work in sales and marketing of all kinds. Scene 2 - Today finds Wilson making and selling coal loads to fellow model railroaders. No surprise! Wilson s early model railroad experience began at age seven with a Christmas Lionel set, but with a twist. His three much-older brothers took great delight in A feature profiling model railroad manufacturers located in the Mid- Eastern Region.To be included in a future issue, contact: Roger L. Cason 1125 Grinnell Road Wilmington, DE (302) rearranging his train set into one big long straight run. They would run the locomotive at full speed, and pelt it with small balls of putty as it went by. Sort of a like shooting gallery, with side rods. The Lionel locomotive survived, more or less, but not without an occasional trip to the repair ship to clean out the putty. For some years, Wilson s Lionel activities continued, eventually with his growing son. The culmination was an 8' X 16' layout in the garage. Then several things happened. Wilson s son discovered girls, and for a time Wilson s job situation required numerous moves to different cities. Model railroading went on hold. Wilson s work experience has been unusually varied and interesting, and has included: Serving for four years in the U.S. Navy. Working as a marketing representative for DuPont Lawn and Garden Chemicals, and then for DuPont paint. Managing up to thirty rock-androll bands (including his son s), placing them for engagements in colleges and military clubs. Selling for a feed company s lawn and garden operation. Selling shipping and packing supplies. Serving as marketing representative for a nonprofit workshop for handicapped. A 1987 trip to a train show at Timonium awakened the dormant interest in model railroading. This led to both hobby and business activities. He joined and became active in a local model railroad club that same year. In 1992, he started construction of his HO Virginia & Western Railroad in the 22' X 25' second story of his garage in Newport News, VA. The layout features a long doubletracked mainline, two levels, and four walkaround throttles. Staging tracks hold up to twelve trains. Although freelanced, the layout is heavily influenced by the Norfolk & Western and by the Virginian. With the aid of a group of friends, construction on the V&W is ongoing today. On most Tuesday evenings, the group gathers for an evening of construction and informal operation. Members also bring their own equipment to see it run. Wilson s advice to new modelers: don t be in a big hurry to build your first layout. Learn from N&W HL SS Ton Scratch Built Scale 1 with Wilson Harrell Coal Load by Ralph Brown. Grand Junction, CO Continued on page 6 THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER

6 MADE IN THE MER Continued from page 5 friends and/or from active club membership. The 1987 trip to Timonium also led directly to the current coal load business. Wilson knows what real coal looks like, and he couldn t find what he wanted on the market. In 1988, he made 60loads and took them to his club one evening, intending them for use by the club. A hobby shop owner bought them on the spot, and the business was off and running. 30th Street Station Interior The Penn Western Continued from page 5 consist is taken to Harrisburg where it is given to Conrail for western destinations. Philadelphia is noted for having large oil refineries and the PW has one. Some Philadelphia-based industries are also represented such as the Tasty Baking Co. and Breyers Ice Cream. There is a large scratch-built model of the PRR/Amtrak 30th Street Station with full interior details. Trains traverse a Chinese Wall to gain access to the station. There is provision for plenty of roads on the PW because of a large collection of 1:64 vehicles (175 cars and 75 trucks). This includes a section of the infamous Schuylkill Expressway, better known as the Surekill Crawlway. It s not authentic, though, until I can create an S-scale traffic jam on it. Some smaller PA locations include Gettysburg, where a Civil War reenactment is taking place, a typical Lancaster County covered bridge with some Amish wagons crossing it, and a typical PA Dutch farm. Harrisburg has a train station that I based on Whit Towers famous station. In his memory, I decided to call it Whit Continued on next page After some experience with hobby shops, he decided to limit his marketing to direct sales plus sales at shows. Wilson regularly exhibits each year at the scale shows at Timonium, and the GATS s in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina. From time to time, he also exhibits at local shows, and at the National Train Show. He has taken custom orders as large as 100 loads. Since 1992, coal loads have been his only business activity. Wilson takes great pride in describing his products as Hand Made, Real Coal, No Two Alike. The process of making a coal load begins by creating a wooden base with the correct footprint for the hopper car. Where necessary, the base is notched to suit the hopper car s internal ribs. Wilson creates the shape on the top surface with a special power sander. Then wife Betty Sue uses yellow carpenter s glue to apply on a thin layer of coal. In other words, the shape is in the wood, and not in a casting of some kind. Coal loads are made for HO (17 types), S (4 types), O and O-27 (11 types) and G (3 types). Wilson purchases actual Continued on next page 6 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 1999 THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA

7 The Penn Western Continued from page 6 Fall Convention Notes The model contest at the Hagerstown Hub City Convention will be judged by popular vote. This was done with success in Judging for merit awards and AP points will be by request. There will also be a Favorite Train Contest so dust off those unique and highly detailed trains and bring them in along with a stretch of track. Towers Station after him. Philadelphia Division I have created a web site for the Penn Western. It s at and provides me with a lot of fun. Drop on in for a visit. MADE IN THE MER Continued from page 6 coal which has been ground and then screened for size-nut (in real life, the size of a pecan), egg, or lump. For any type of load, size is selected based in part on the vintage of the car being modeled, and the size of coal most likely to have been hauled in it. The coal looks a little shiny, as it does actually coming from the mine. Interested modelers can contact Wilson Harrell at 936 Moyer Road, Newport News, VA 23608, SASE, please. David Graeff will be presenting a clinic entitled: Loads for Open Cars from Junk. He will be providing the junk, but would like those attending to bring along their cars, glue, cutting tools, pliers and rubber bands, and a scale rule. The CSX Cumberland Shop Tour is sold out. We are keeping a standby list and are willing to take standby registration with refund at the registration desk after the tour runs. KEITH BERGMANN, ENGINEER Hours: Tue.- Wed. - Fri Thu Sat Sun (Oct.-April) 114 Main Street, Hightstown, NJ Specializing in HO and N gauge Trains 14 HADDON AVENUE WESTMONT, NJ THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER

8 8 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 1999 THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA

9 Registration - Hub City Limited Convention - November 11-14, 1999 Name of Primary Registrant: Address: NMRA Number: City/State/Zip+4: M.E.R. Number: Full Registration $35.00 x = $ Full (non-nmra member) $50.00 x = $ Name of Spouse: Spouse $10.00 = $ Children s Names: Each child 12 to 18 years old $10.00 x = $ (children under 12 are free) Buffet dinners (pre-registrations only) $15.00 x = $ (top round of beef, baked scrod, and teriyaki chicken) Operations Call Board $15.00 x = $ (limited to 60 people) Extra fare rail clinic ( Painting Figures ) $15.00 x = $ (limited to 15 people) Extra fare rail clinic ( Styrene Construction ) $15.00 x = $ Extra fare non-rail clinics: Friday night Tole Painting $15.00 x = $ (limited to 20 people) Saturday morning Historical Tour $5.00 x = $ (limited to 15 people) NOTE: October 21, 1999 is the LAST date to pre-register for the Extra Fare Clinics! CSX Cumberland Shop Tour (Sat.morning) $20.00 x = $ (SOLD OUT - standbys only) MARC Brunswick, Md facility tour (Sat.) $20.00 x = $ NOTE: Steel-toed shoes, safety glasses and hard hats are required for the CSX & MARC tours! Cement Plant tour (Friday morning) $10.00 x = $ (limited to 30 people) Feed mill/warehouse tour (Friday afternoon) $10.00 x = $ (limited to 30 people) NOTE: No wheelchair access available for the Cement Plant or Feed Mill tours! GRAND TOTAL $ Enclose your check payable to Hub City Limited and mail this portion of the form to: Paul Rausch, 3101 Jefferson Drive, Martinsburg, WV ( ) cut here For room reservations at the convention hotel, call them or return this portion of the form to the Ramada Inn Convention Center Dual Highway - Hagerstown, MD Group Name: Mid-Eastern Region NMRA, November 11-14,1999 Room Cost: $69.00 plus tax Name: Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: Arrival Date: Departure Date: Reservations Must Be Received By: October 21, 1999 n Single Room n Double n Smoking n Non-Smoking Number of Rooms Number of Adults Number of Children MC VS AMX DS DI Number Exp: Check In After 3 PM - Check Out 11 AM. Arrivals after 4 PM must be guaranteed by credit card or pre-payment. THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER

10 Mid-Eastern Region Achievement Program by Jim Kellow MMR Chairman I want to thank Monroe Stewart MMR for appointing me the Chairman of the MER Achievement Program to replace Al Phillips MMR. In my opinion Al has done an outstanding job as Chairman and I hope to continue the program on the same high standards and commitments Al maintained. Currently there are 161 MER members involved in the Achievement Program out of a total of 1043 MER members. One of my goals is to increase the number of members who take advantage of the program. In order to accomplish this as cost effectively as possible I plan to develop an on-line Web page for the MER Achievement Program. The page would be linked to the National NMRA page to avoid duplication of forms, regulations, etc. and would have as its focus listing MER Achievement Program staff including their e- mail addresses, and the MER members who are presently active in the AP including the certificates and Gold Spike Awards they have earned. In addition the site will have a news section and information believed useful for MER members. In addition to the site I plan to develop a quarterly newsletter about the MER AP. Anyone can subscribe for free to the newsletter by simply sending me their address to jkellow@widomaker.com. The newsletter will focus on information about the MER AP including members awards, news items about the program, articles written by the members, and member questions and answers. I hope these two efforts will increase the knowledge about the program to all MER members and encourage members to participate. In order to get these two efforts going I am looking for MER members who are interested in helping develop the web site and in editing the newsletter. Both of these efforts will qualify for the Volunteer Achievement Certificate. Please contact me if you are interested. I have searched the records of the MER Achievement Program, the NMRA National and the MER Regional membership records to try to develop a master list of all MER AP members. The one area I am not sure I have covered is a list of persons who have moved into the MER from another region who were involved in the AP in the Continued on next page 10 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 1999 THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA

11 CALLBOARD Coming Events Notices must be typed and have complete addresses. Use the style shown below and be brief as possible. Be sure to include a contact telephone number. Send items for CALLBOARD to Stan Knotts, Falling Spring Court, Laytonsville, MD to Srknotts@erols.com Virginia Beach VA: Tenth Annual Tidewater Model Train Show and Sale, sponsored by the Tidewater Division of the N.M.R.A., October 23-24, 1999, at the Virginia Beach Pavilion, th Street, Virginia Beach, VA. Hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Featuring dealer tables, hourly door prizes, HO, N-Scale, O- Gauge (Lionel), and G Scale operating modular layouts, and free on-site parking. Located adjacent to Norfolk-Virginia Beach Expressway (I-264). Admission $4.00 for adults; children under 12 free (with an adult). For information, contact: Steve Prescott, 1748 Nanneys Creek Road, Virginia Beach, VA Phone (757) Southern Junction Model Train Show, September 11-12, 1999, Raleigh, NC Sponsored by Carolina Piedmont Division 13 Inc., MER, NMRA and North Raleigh Model Railroad Club, NTRAK. Eastern North Carolina s largest display of model train layouts. Features at least 7 model railroad layouts, including a large NTRAK layout. Approximately 120 dealer tables are available. NTRAK modules are most welcome in the NTRAK layout. To participate with a NTRAK module, contact Chuck Dopler at (919) or doplerc@bellsouth.net Location: NC State Fairgrounds, Dorton Arena, 1025 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC Times: Saturday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: $4 for adults, children under 12 free with paid adult Contact: For more information, contact Rick Allen, P.O. Box 5183, Cary, NC Telephone: (919) , trainnut@mindspring.com or visit our web site at southern.html The Chesapeake Bay Railroaders are having an Open House on November 20 & 21 and a Railroad Flea Market on the 20th. The 20th events are from 10am to 4pm, the Open House on the 21st is from 1pm to 4pm. Entry to the Open House is free, the Flea Market cost $2.00. The club is located in Grafton Virginia about 5 miles south of Yorktown just off Route 17. There will be signs on Rt. 17 directing you to the club and the flea market. Visit our web site for a map: cbw/. We are an HO club with a large two level layout - helixes and all! The layout was started in the early 1980 s and we are in the middle of constructing a major addition to the layout. It s a good opportunity to see the full range of layout construction from bench work to scenery. Mid-Eastern Region Achievement Program continued from page 9 former region. If you fit into this category please contact me so I can include you in the regional file. The Achievement Program is the best educational program in the world concerning model railroading. I can guarantee that if you become involved in the program you will become a better modeler, increase your knowledge of prototype railroading, and enjoy your model railroading more. My role and the role of all of the Division Achievement Program staff listed below is to provide you with any information you may need about the program and assist you as much as possible in successfully completing any of the Achievement Certificates or the Gold Spike Award. If you have not looked into the program I hope you will contact your Divisional AP representative or me for more information. Please note that currently Division 6 and 8 do not have a Division AP Chairman. If you would like to be considered for one of these positions please let me know. Lastly if you have any comments or suggestions about the Achievement Program please contact me. I look forward to talking to you about the program. ADVERTISE IN THE LOCAL CALL Or send your ad for a quote to: 2017 Fairmount Avenue Philadelphia, PA THE LOCAL/ MID-EASTERN REGION/NMRA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER

12 MID-EASTERN REGION, NMRA, INC Bellevue Street Silver Spring MD RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED INSIDE THIS ISSUE Non-Profit Organization U.S.Postage PAID York, PA Permit No.200 Editor s Column page 2 Made in the MER page 5 Fall Convention Notes page 7 Hub City Convention page 8 Hub City Registration Form page 9 MER Achievement Program page 10 CALLBOARD page 11 MER RF&P Mill Gon Order Form GON QUANTITY MEMBER PRICE * NON-MEMBER PRICE TOTAL #3306 $8.95 $9.95 $ #3310 $8.95 $9.95 $ TOTAL $ MARYLAND RESIDENTS ADD 5% SALES TAX SHIPPING: $2.50 PER CAR $ $ TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED $ * MY MER # IS Ship to: NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO MID EASTERN REGION. MAIL TO: THE MID-EASTERN REGION INC. Business Manager Bellevue Street Silver Spring, MD The Mid-Eastern Region Inc., NMRA MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Business Manager YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION TO BE A MEMBER OF Bellevue Street THE MID-EASTERN REGION Name Address City State Zip NMRA # Expire Date MER # Expire Date Scale Birth date Tel # Remittance Enclosed for: National Dues: q New q Renewal q 1 year: $32.00 q 2 years: $64.00 $ Life membership cost is based on your age. Send your Birth Date to the NMRA for a quotation. Region Dues: q New q Renewal q 1 year: $8.00 q 2 years: $16.00 $ Life membership cost is based on your age. Send your Birth Date to the MER for a quotation. Lapel Pin/Tie $6 each $ Region Cloth $3 each $ Donation $